How does the camera function as a symbol in the narrative? How does Clark comment on the ethics of image-making and of art through the camera?

Glass is prominently featured throughout the novel for its fragile or precarious qualities. How might you use the visual qualities of glass to better understand Irina’s character or her perception of others?

Analyze Irina’s photographic practice as a direct response to her northern, working-class origins and her time in the London art world.

Analyze Irina’s relationship with her mentors and how these relationships manifest in her practice as a solo artist. How do Lesley and Frank continue to influence Irina in the present?

Discuss how Irina’s interactions with her primary models, Will and Eddie reveal her complex theories on masculinity and vulnerability. Why does she prefer them over the other models?

Analyze the narrative voice of Irina Sturges. What are the specific stylistic elements that help to distinguish Irina’s consciousness from other narrators in literature?

Compare and contrast Irina Sturges against another “unlikable” female antiheroine from contemporary works of fiction like Ottessa Moshfegh’s Eileen, highlighting the two characters’ commentary on female identity.

The novel concludes with Irina’s failed search for physical evidence of her crime. Why does Clark choose to end the novel without resolving the mystery of the boy’s death? What does this suggest about where the resolution of the novel’s conflict actually lies?